SAVANNAH, Ga. – The University of Montevallo baseball team dropped a pair of games against Armstrong State University in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader April 3, dropping the opener 10-5 before falling 7-6 in the nightcap.
The Falcons (17-17 overall, 9-11 in Peach Belt Conference) will try to pick up a win in the final game of the series Saturday, April 4 at 12 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Central.
The Pirates, who are ranked No. 14 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II poll, scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie on their way to a 10-5 win in the opening game of the series.
Senior Matthew Haskins led Montevallo offensively as he finished 2-for-5 at the plate with a homer, his seventh dinger of the season. Haskins drove in one run and scored three runs in the series opener.
Senior Vinny Rodriguez went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and drove in one run. Sophomore Dane Hutcheon finished 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and drove in one run.
Sophomore Alex Jones recorded the only other hit by the Falcons as he finished 1-for-3 at the plate and scored one run. Freshman Kale Latorre also scored one run.
Junior Taylor Burr (3-3) was tagged with the loss in relief after allowing three earned runs on one hit with two walks in 1/3 of an inning.
Junior starter Cody Hughes gave up five runs, including two earned runs, on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk in seven innings on the mound.
The Falcons overcame a two-run deficit in the late stages to tie the game at 5-5, with Rodriguez plating Haskins on a RBI double in the top of the seventh inning and Hutcheon scoring Latorre on a RBI double in the top of the eighth inning.
A two-run double by the Pirates' Kendrick Thompson in the bottom of the eighth inning broke the tie and helped Armstrong State secure the win in the first game.
The Falcons overcame an early 3-0 deficit in the second game, taking a 6-4 lead into the bottom half of the seventh before the Pirates plated the final three runs to defeat Montevallo 7-6 in the nightcap.
Rodriguez led the Falcons offensively in the second game of the doubleheader as he finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a double. Rodriguez drove in two runs and scored one run.
Jones finished 2-for-4 at the plate. Hutcheon, who drove in two runs and scored one run, went 2-for-5 at the plate.
Latorre finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a double and scored one run. Sophomore Jacob Whiting went 1-for-3 at the plate and drove in one run. Junior Thomas Bradey, who drove in one run and scored one run, finished 1-for-3 at the plate. Haskins went 1-for-5 at the plate and scored one run.
Burr again took the loss after allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout in one inning in relief.
Junior starter Landon Smith allowed six runs, including five earned runs, on 12 hits with four strikeouts and one walk in seven innings on the mound.
After tying the game at 4-4 with three runs in the top of the sixth inning, highlighted by Rodriguez' two-run double, Hutcheon plated Latorre with a run-scoring single to give the Falcons a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Hutcheon scored on a wild pitch in the frame to push the lead to 6-4.
However, a pair of RBI doubles by the Pirates' Berry Aldridge and J.T. Phillips in the bottom of the seventh inning tied the game at 6-6 before a RBI triple by Tyler Avera clinched the come-from-behind victory for Armstrong State.
